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In 2019, The Royal Philatelic Society London will celebrate its 150th Anniversary. As part of this special occasion, the Society is delighted to be joining its members and friends from around the world at the 'Stockholmia 2019' international philatelic exhibition in Stockholm, Sweden from 29 May to 2 June.The Royal Philatelic Society London is the oldest and one of the largest and most prestigious philatelic societies in the world with some 2,200 members in 80 countries. 'Stockholmia 2019' will be another milestone and highlight in its long history.The Society is truly honoured that it is to be celebrated by 'Stockholmia 2019'. This is being organised by some of the leading philatelists in Sweden, all of whom are also Fellows of The Royal Philatelic Society London.Contact detailsRichard Stock, RPSL 150th Anniversary Project Manager, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Jonas Hällström, STOCKHOLMIA 2019 Exhibition Manager, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(wm) Earlier this month, the German auction house Stade of Grenzach-Wyhlen brought an ‘artist’s picture postcard’ under the gavel. The skilled auctioneer decided to start with a courageous upset price: 1,000 euros. But then the bidding went through the roof, ending at a remarkable 7.500 euros. Ultimately, the buyer had to pay around 9.000 for the postcard. The auctioneer, Daniel Stade, later admitted to have reckoned with a final yield of three to four thousand euros; he was stunned by the final bid.About twenty years ago, a normal stamp collector found the picture postcard in an approval lot; the price was 30 marks (about 15 euros). The collector was charmed by the card, because of the exceptional modern drawing. He bought the card, put it in a box and then forgot all about it.

Two decades later, his sun spotted the card. He suggested to submit the card to the expertise of a professional. After all, the card was hand-drawn, so it might have an "artistic" origin and a subsequent value. The auctioneer Daniel Stade was contacted and he immediately agreed to include the card in his upcoming auction. Stade did some research, finding out the probable name of the artist who drew the card (someone called 'Werner', according to the backside of the card): Werner Graeff from the famous Bauhaus School in Weimar.Stade decided on an upset price of 1.000 euros, which seemed rather overconfident. But Stade had not that much doubts: he knew what potential such an item could have. And he was right: a seemingly insignificant discovery costing only 30 marks turned out to be a impressive highlight that yielded 7.500 euros (auction costs excluded). It shows, once again, that when you have the right knowledge (and also a little luck) spectacular auction results are possible. And it does not always have to be a Picasso!

I have just returned from The Levaya or Jewish Burial service for my old Boss, friend, and mentor, Max Stern. Max would have been 95 in just 2 weeks time and we were preparing a party to celebrate on behalf of the Australasian Philatelic Traders Association. Max was truly a legend in the stamp world, and a trader for nearly 80 years. He knew no political boundaries and was a major trader with communist Russia and Eastern Europe when they were off limits to most people in the West. Likewise he traded with China well before President Nixon or Gough Whitlam opened them up to Western trade, and he even dealt with North Korea. He also traded with most Arab countries and others in the Middle East such as Lebanon and Egypt, despite being Jewish himself. He had major government contacts in many of these countries and could pull strings that no other businessman in Australia could match. He spoke German, Czech, Hungarian, Russian, English and Yiddish fluently. As one of the world's major new issue dealers, Max helped a lot of poor countries earn desperately needed foreign exchange, and gave their Post Offices many incredibly successful marketing ideas. He was able to organize most of the joint issues that Australia has had with other countries through his personal contacts in both countries at the time. He was a generous benefactor to many Jewish charities, and his business provided income for all his greater family in modern times, and even back to pre war days when the Nazis closed down his family’s haberdashery business because they were Jewish.

Helena Obermüller-Wilén is the leading expert in classic Swedish philately until 1920 and a member of AIEP since 1996. Between 2004 and 2012, she was secretary of the FIP Commission for the “Fight against Forgeries". Her work to document forgeries has been extensive and especially interesting is her registration of the so-called "Steinberg Covers".

The "Steinberg Covers" came to Sweden in the early 1970s with whom we think was the international forger Robert Steinberg. The man in Sweden who called himself Mr. Steinberg sold a lot of Swedish covers, many in very fine or exceptional quality. Many of these covers received certificates as the forgeries were expertly made.

Helena Obermüller-Wilén, together with the Expert Committee of the Swedish Philatelic Federation, have until today documented 207 of these forged covers and the work continues. In the book "The Steinberg Covers", published by Postiljonen with Jonas Hällström as editor, these 207 covers are described and in most cases illustrated. The aim is to broaden the knowledge of these covers both in Sweden and internationally.

In 2004, Austria Post presented something real different: postage stamps that were embellished with real Swarovski crystals, a world premiere. And now there is a sequel to the cooperation between the internationally renowned company Swarovski (producer of high quality crystals in the Tyrolean town of Wattens) and Austria Post. On 24 September of this year the latter issued a special ‘Lederhosen’ stamp (nominal value: 6.30 Euros) made of Alcantara leather (an artificial suede) and adorned with Swarovski crystals. The stamp was issued 24 September of this year, has a circulation of 150,000 copies and was designed and printed by D. Swarovski KG in Wattens (Tyrol). The printing is described by Austria Post as ‘Laser-cut Alcantara, adorned with XILION Flatbacks in Golden Shadow’.